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being prime minister should be about more than simply infuriating large segments of the canadian population representing many more than just your CONS.

justin's latest message is not only unfortunate, it's disgraceful even if it is consistent with his admiration for the government of china (out of all the countries in the world he could choose to admire for their form of government).

when it comes to canadians and our place in our country and in the world, he is displaying the same lack of empathy and understanding as his father. not only did we have “I know my father was very proud to call him a friend...", we have "On behalf of all Canadians, Sophie and I offer our deepest condolences...".

really? not even "the government of Canada and I" but "Sophie and I"? as if the message is being delivered by king justin and queen sophie on behalf of their subjects.

there's nothing here to be proud about - this was an acknowledgment that a ruthless dictator who slaughtered tens of thousands of his own citizens while exiling hundreds of thousands more was and is considered a friend by king pierre and by king justin. castro's cuba was the only country in the americas that consistently makes the freedom house list as one of the worst abuser nations when it comes to denying political rights and civil liberties.

some friend indeed. and i'm not sure whether that says more about castro or about either of the trudeau kings but i'm pretty sure that feeling that way isn't something that should make anyone glad.

Cuba and Canada have generally seemed to have a fairly good relationship over the years, so I think the statement by our Prime Minister is a reflection of that.

Personally, I think Castro's record is mixed - he did some very good things for his country, but human rights were a problem.

However I find it very hypocritical that some of the people in the US who criticized Castro the most for locking up his political opponents, were people who also supported a candidate who got people to chant "lock her up" at every rally about his political opponent in the recent election there. If they really want their criticism to be taken seriously, then they should not support behaving like third world dictators.

Cuba and Canada have generally seemed to have a fairly good relationship over the years, so I think the statement by our Prime Minister is a reflection of that.

Personally, I think Castro's record is mixed - he did some very good things for his country, but human rights were a problem.

However I find it very hypocritical that some of the people in the US who criticized Castro the most for locking up his political opponents, were people who also supported a candidate who got people to chant "lock her up" at every rally about his political opponent in the recent election there. If they really want their criticism to be taken seriously, then they should not support behaving like third world dictators.

You can feel anyway you want about Castro, so can Trudeau, but don't act like we all care the [email protected] is dead!!ll Daddy loved dictators so does his stupid son!

Cuba and Canada have generally seemed to have a fairly good relationship over the years, so I think the statement by our Prime Minister is a reflection of that.

Personally, I think Castro's record is mixed - he did some very good things for his country, but human rights were a problem.

However I find it very hypocritical that some of the people in the US who criticized Castro the most for locking up his political opponents, were people who also supported a candidate who got people to chant "lock her up" at every rally about his political opponent in the recent election there. If they really want their criticism to be taken seriously, then they should not support behaving like third world dictators.

You can feel anyway you want about Castro, so can Trudeau, but don't act like we all care the [email protected] is dead!!ll Daddy loved dictators so does his stupid son!

I am fairly certain if there ever was a contest in the number of dictators a country loved, the US would win hands down over any other country. They have supported many odious dictators around the world.

The only reason the US criticized Castro so much was that he didn't like them, and he had good reason for that - the brutal dictator before him that the US supported, the Bay of Pigs invasion, the trade embargo, the hundreds of US sponsored assassination attempts, etc... No wonder he became a bit paranoid and didn't tolerate opposition well. Cuban exiles in south Florida are a vocal and politically powerful force and have kept the US and Cuba from trying to mend fences for years - which any otherwise sensible neighbours would have done.

The only criteria for not being criticized by the US on human rights - be a US ally and of course Castro was not that. He fought very hard to keep his country independent of the US, something that other countries in the Americas can appreciate. He was the long serving leader of Cuba, seemed to be generally genuinely admired by his people and contrary to the delusions of the Cuba exiles in Miami unlike many of the Central and South American dictators the US supported, there was never no mass movement to over throw him.

We're all celebrating, this is like a carnival," said 72-year-old Jay Fernandez, who came to Miami when he was 18 in 1961 after he was jailed twice by the Cuban government. He and his wife and another woman held up a bilingual sign he'd made four years ago when Castro first became ill. "Satan, Fidel is now yours. Give him what he deserves. Don't let him rest in peace."

Trudeau’s former foreign policy adviser Roland Paris was among those taking the prime minister to task, saying on Twitter “It’s not a statement I would have recommended.”
Trudeau’s comments also garnered criticism in the United States, a long-time political adversary of Cuba.
Website Breitbart News, which was previously run by president-elect Donald Trump’s senior strategist, called the prime minister a “pretty little liar” in response to his comments.
And Ian Bremmer, an American political scientist who specializes in U.S. foreign policy, tweeted that “Cuban citizens and exiles deserve better” from Trudeau.

Prissy creeps pretending to be anti-Communist and exiled filth that deserves its place in the Florida murder and drug swamp are happy tonight. Yadda yadda.

What made Castro different from the run of the mill dictators that corrupted an already filthy system that they were able to subvert fully to their fascist ends was that he fought. And won. An actual revolution.

In a country that had been completely taken over by organized crime and the mob.

Yes, after he took over he had the lot of them -- the ones that didn't flee to filthy Yankee swamp -- shot in the same degenerate hotels and casinos they ran. Good show.

What the Yankees and their creepy apologists here forget is that Castro embraced Communism fully only after the Americans decided they would rather support their ousted crime bosses than the revolution that had drained their swap. Not the way Trump and his ilk promise, but in a very real way.

Fifty or sixty years later the Yankees and their fellow anti-Communists are still complaining. Let them.

It is all as utterly beneath contempt as the American way of death is inhuman.

The real point though, is this: to condemn Castro is to condemn the revolution he won and thereby to support the swamp that he drained.

Castro WAS a legendary revolutionary. To deny that as an affront is to have no understanding of the reasons why real revolutions take place from time to time before being subverted. And to be affronted by that thought while presuming to support some kind of mocked-up swamp-draining exercise a la Trump is first world hypocrisy at its obese and overfed worst.

The above is all off-topic, but I'm glad Trudeau said what he did. God knows any Liberal government is an exercise in compromise and heart-break when it comes to any rigorous ideals. Most of the time that's good in a practical sense, but occasionally, just occasionally, practicality be gone -- and it's good to have a Liberal bold enough to say the rigorous truth.

Trudeau’s former foreign policy adviser Roland Paris was among those taking the prime minister to task, saying on Twitter “It’s not a statement I would have recommended.”
Trudeau’s comments also garnered criticism in the United States, a long-time political adversary of Cuba.
Website Breitbart News, which was previously run by president-elect Donald Trump’s senior strategist, called the prime minister a “pretty little liar” in response to his comments.
And Ian Bremmer, an American political scientist who specializes in U.S. foreign policy, tweeted that “Cuban citizens and exiles deserve better” from Trudeau.

Is it a surprise that some in the US seem to think they can dictate to people outside of their country what they should think about the former leader of another country? Just because those politically precious Cuban exiles in Florida hated Castro so much (because he defeated them in the revolution) does not mean the rest of the world has too. Many of them (or perhaps I should say their parents and grandparents) were affiliated with the brutal dictator that ruled Cuba before Castro - so again their current great concern for human rights, while touching is historical hypocrisy.

Trudeau’s former foreign policy adviser Roland Paris was among those taking the prime minister to task, saying on Twitter “It’s not a statement I would have recommended.”
Trudeau’s comments also garnered criticism in the United States, a long-time political adversary of Cuba.
Website Breitbart News, which was previously run by president-elect Donald Trump’s senior strategist, called the prime minister a “pretty little liar” in response to his comments.
And Ian Bremmer, an American political scientist who specializes in U.S. foreign policy, tweeted that “Cuban citizens and exiles deserve better” from Trudeau.

Is it a surprise that some in the US seem to think they can dictate to people outside of their country what they should think about the former leader of another country? Just because those politically precious Cuban exiles in Florida hated Castro so much (because he defeated them in the revolution) does not mean the rest of the world has too. Many of them (or perhaps I should say their parents and grandparents) were affiliated with the brutal dictator that ruled Cuba before Castro - so again their current great concern for human rights, while touching is historical hypocrisy.

Trudeau’s former foreign policy adviser Roland Paris was among those taking the prime minister to task, saying on Twitter “It’s not a statement I would have recommended.”
Trudeau’s comments also garnered criticism in the United States, a long-time political adversary of Cuba.
Website Breitbart News, which was previously run by president-elect Donald Trump’s senior strategist, called the prime minister a “pretty little liar” in response to his comments.
And Ian Bremmer, an American political scientist who specializes in U.S. foreign policy, tweeted that “Cuban citizens and exiles deserve better” from Trudeau.

Is it a surprise that some in the US seem to think they can dictate to people outside of their country what they should think about the former leader of another country? Just because those politically precious Cuban exiles in Florida hated Castro so much (because he defeated them in the revolution) does not mean the rest of the world has too. Many of them (or perhaps I should say their parents and grandparents) were affiliated with the brutal dictator that ruled Cuba before Castro - so again their current great concern for human rights, while touching is historical hypocrisy.

And Trudeau.an embarrassment.

Maybe you want to "lock him up", but many of us are fine with him. At least the leader of Canada won more votes than his opponents.

Trudeau’s former foreign policy adviser Roland Paris was among those taking the prime minister to task, saying on Twitter “It’s not a statement I would have recommended.”
Trudeau’s comments also garnered criticism in the United States, a long-time political adversary of Cuba.
Website Breitbart News, which was previously run by president-elect Donald Trump’s senior strategist, called the prime minister a “pretty little liar” in response to his comments.
And Ian Bremmer, an American political scientist who specializes in U.S. foreign policy, tweeted that “Cuban citizens and exiles deserve better” from Trudeau.

Is it a surprise that some in the US seem to think they can dictate to people outside of their country what they should think about the former leader of another country? Just because those politically precious Cuban exiles in Florida hated Castro so much (because he defeated them in the revolution) does not mean the rest of the world has too. Many of them (or perhaps I should say their parents and grandparents) were affiliated with the brutal dictator that ruled Cuba before Castro - so again their current great concern for human rights, while touching is historical hypocrisy.

And Trudeau.an embarrassment.

Maybe you want to "lock him up", but many of us are fine with him. At least the leader of Canada won more votes than his opponents.

According to him, he left everyone in the dust,ROTFL. He's such a drama queen.You can have him and his useless caucus

Trudeau’s former foreign policy adviser Roland Paris was among those taking the prime minister to task, saying on Twitter “It’s not a statement I would have recommended.”
Trudeau’s comments also garnered criticism in the United States, a long-time political adversary of Cuba.
Website Breitbart News, which was previously run by president-elect Donald Trump’s senior strategist, called the prime minister a “pretty little liar” in response to his comments.
And Ian Bremmer, an American political scientist who specializes in U.S. foreign policy, tweeted that “Cuban citizens and exiles deserve better” from Trudeau.

Is it a surprise that some in the US seem to think they can dictate to people outside of their country what they should think about the former leader of another country? Just because those politically precious Cuban exiles in Florida hated Castro so much (because he defeated them in the revolution) does not mean the rest of the world has too. Many of them (or perhaps I should say their parents and grandparents) were affiliated with the brutal dictator that ruled Cuba before Castro - so again their current great concern for human rights, while touching is historical hypocrisy.

And Trudeau.an embarrassment.

Maybe you want to "lock him up", but many of us are fine with him. At least the leader of Canada won more votes than his opponents.

While Tater Tot is head (with nice hair) of the libs he is not head of state. Castro may have built schools but what was taught in them was the properganda of his party. He may have initiated a good medical system but there was shortages of medicines and when his cronies go sick what medicines were left did not go to poor Cubans. I guess if you ignore all the people he tortured, murdered, send in exile while fleeing on leaky boats or the fact he was party to nearly starting WW111 then the guy was a regular Mr. Rogers.
By the way, the U S is not dictating what others should think about leaders of other countries. In the case of Captain Selfie some U S politicians are telling it like it is as they are Cubans themselves or sons/daughters of Cubans. What Trudeau said is an insult to them. Hopefully the next indignity is not Sophia warbling at Castro's funeral.

Prissy creeps pretending to be anti-Communist and exiled filth that deserves its place in the Florida murder and drug swamp are happy tonight. Yadda yadda.

What made Castro different from the run of the mill dictators that corrupted an already filthy system that they were able to subvert fully to their fascist ends was that he fought. And won. An actual revolution.

In a country that had been completely taken over by organized crime and the mob.

Yes, after he took over he had the lot of them -- the ones that didn't flee to filthy Yankee swamp -- shot in the same degenerate hotels and casinos they ran. Good show.

What the Yankees and their creepy apologists here forget is that Castro embraced Communism fully only after the Americans decided they would rather support their ousted crime bosses than the revolution that had drained their swap. Not the way Trump and his ilk promise, but in a very real way.

Fifty or sixty years later the Yankees and their fellow anti-Communists are still complaining. Let them.

It is all as utterly beneath contempt as the American way of death is inhuman.

The real point though, is this: to condemn Castro is to condemn the revolution he won and thereby to support the swamp that he drained.

Castro WAS a legendary revolutionary. To deny that as an affront is to have no understanding of the reasons why real revolutions take place from time to time before being subverted. And to be affronted by that thought while presuming to support some kind of mocked-up swamp-draining exercise a la Trump is first world hypocrisy at its obese and overfed worst.

The above is all off-topic, but I'm glad Trudeau said what he did. God knows any Liberal government is an exercise in compromise and heart-break when it comes to any rigorous ideals. Most of the time that's good in a practical sense, but occasionally, just occasionally, practicality be gone -- and it's good to have a Liberal bold enough to say the rigorous truth.

There's a huge distance between condemn and praise and I don't think as a whole, either should be applied to Castro. One can praise his fight against Batista's corruption while condemning his ruthless, if not murderous, methods. Maybe the loss of innocent lives is unavoidable in any revolution, but he was the author of the misfortune of those unlucky enough to get in his way.

The point is, these people; revolutionaries, terrorists, freedom fighters, Kings and dictators, think it's quite ok to sacrifice lives in their pursuit or maintenance of what they and their followers define as a better political and economic environment - for them.

Prissy creeps pretending to be anti-Communist and exiled filth that deserves its place in the Florida murder and drug swamp are happy tonight. Yadda yadda.

What made Castro different from the run of the mill dictators that corrupted an already filthy system that they were able to subvert fully to their fascist ends was that he fought. And won. An actual revolution.

In a country that had been completely taken over by organized crime and the mob.

Yes, after he took over he had the lot of them -- the ones that didn't flee to filthy Yankee swamp -- shot in the same degenerate hotels and casinos they ran. Good show.

What the Yankees and their creepy apologists here forget is that Castro embraced Communism fully only after the Americans decided they would rather support their ousted crime bosses than the revolution that had drained their swap. Not the way Trump and his ilk promise, but in a very real way.

Fifty or sixty years later the Yankees and their fellow anti-Communists are still complaining. Let them.

It is all as utterly beneath contempt as the American way of death is inhuman.

The real point though, is this: to condemn Castro is to condemn the revolution he won and thereby to support the swamp that he drained.

Castro WAS a legendary revolutionary. To deny that as an affront is to have no understanding of the reasons why real revolutions take place from time to time before being subverted. And to be affronted by that thought while presuming to support some kind of mocked-up swamp-draining exercise a la Trump is first world hypocrisy at its obese and overfed worst.

The above is all off-topic, but I'm glad Trudeau said what he did. God knows any Liberal government is an exercise in compromise and heart-break when it comes to any rigorous ideals. Most of the time that's good in a practical sense, but occasionally, just occasionally, practicality be gone -- and it's good to have a Liberal bold enough to say the rigorous truth.

There's a huge distance between condemn and praise and I don't think as a whole, either should be applied to Castro. One can praise his fight against Batista's corruption while condemning his ruthless, if not murderous, methods. Maybe the loss of innocent lives is unavoidable in any revolution, but he was the author of the misfortune of those unlucky enough to get in his way.

The point is, these people; revolutionaries, terrorists, freedom fighters, Kings and dictators, think it's quite ok to sacrifice lives in their pursuit or maintenance of what they and their followers define as a better political and economic environment - for them.

Castro was a dictator, no doubt, and he was ruthless. He revolted against Fulgencio Batista, an American Government and Mafia supported dictator that jailed, tortured and executed his opponents as well. Havana was a playground of 'The Ugly American', rich business people and fat cats who gambled, drank and kept hundreds of brothels in business. The average Cuban were in desperate poverty throughout Cuba. Castro was not much better but when he drained the swamp of Batista's government and the American's turned on him because Castro was not the dictator that the US wanted and could manipulate. Just look at all the American backed banana republic dictators. We also must remember that Cuba sent soldiers to other countries to wage the USSR's proxy wars and many airline hijackings went straight to Fidel's Cuba.

It is a conundrum and whether Cuba would have been better off with Batista, Castro or anyone else is debateable as much as if the US would be better with Trump, Clinton or anyone else. In fact, would it make any difference to the average person at all?

I wonder how many poster's here that are against Castro, still went on a cheap Cuban vacation or enjoy a Cuban cigar?

I will say about Trudeau's eulogy comments are consistent with the normal practice. Just go to a funeral for a disliked relative. The deceased may have been a drunkard, wife beating philanderer and at the eulogy, they speak of the positives and console the family. Few will speak openly of the negatives.

Trudeau’s former foreign policy adviser Roland Paris was among those taking the prime minister to task, saying on Twitter “It’s not a statement I would have recommended.”
Trudeau’s comments also garnered criticism in the United States, a long-time political adversary of Cuba.
Website Breitbart News, which was previously run by president-elect Donald Trump’s senior strategist, called the prime minister a “pretty little liar” in response to his comments.
And Ian Bremmer, an American political scientist who specializes in U.S. foreign policy, tweeted that “Cuban citizens and exiles deserve better” from Trudeau.

Is it a surprise that some in the US seem to think they can dictate to people outside of their country what they should think about the former leader of another country? Just because those politically precious Cuban exiles in Florida hated Castro so much (because he defeated them in the revolution) does not mean the rest of the world has too. Many of them (or perhaps I should say their parents and grandparents) were affiliated with the brutal dictator that ruled Cuba before Castro - so again their current great concern for human rights, while touching is historical hypocrisy.

And Trudeau.an embarrassment.

Maybe you want to "lock him up", but many of us are fine with him. At least the leader of Canada won more votes than his opponents.

While Tater Tot is head (with nice hair) of the libs he is not head of state. Castro may have built schools but what was taught in them was the properganda of his party. He may have initiated a good medical system but there was shortages of medicines and when his cronies go sick what medicines were left did not go to poor Cubans. I guess if you ignore all the people he tortured, murdered, send in exile while fleeing on leaky boats or the fact he was party to nearly starting WW111 then the guy was a regular Mr. Rogers.
By the way, the U S is not dictating what others should think about leaders of other countries. In the case of Captain Selfie some U S politicians are telling it like it is as they are Cubans themselves or sons/daughters of Cubans. What Trudeau said is an insult to them. Hopefully the next indignity is not Sophia warbling at Castro's funeral.

Cuba and Canada have generally seemed to have a fairly good relationship over the years, so I think the statement by our Prime Minister is a reflection of that.

Personally, I think Castro's record is mixed - he did some very good things for his country, but human rights were a problem.

However I find it very hypocritical that some of the people in the US who criticized Castro the most for locking up his political opponents, were people who also supported a candidate who got people to chant "lock her up" at every rally about his political opponent in the recent election there. If they really want their criticism to be taken seriously, then they should not support behaving like third world dictators.

You can feel anyway you want about Castro, so can Trudeau, but don't act like we all care the [email protected] is dead!!ll Daddy loved dictators so does his stupid son!

I am fairly certain if there ever was a contest in the number of dictators a country loved, the US would win hands down over any other country. They have supported many odious dictators around the world.

The only reason the US criticized Castro so much was that he didn't like them, and he had good reason for that - the brutal dictator before him that the US supported, the Bay of Pigs invasion, the trade embargo, the hundreds of US sponsored assassination attempts, etc... No wonder he became a bit paranoid and didn't tolerate opposition well. Cuban exiles in south Florida are a vocal and politically powerful force and have kept the US and Cuba from trying to mend fences for years - which any otherwise sensible neighbours would have done.

The only criteria for not being criticized by the US on human rights - be a US ally and of course Castro was not that. He fought very hard to keep his country independent of the US, something that other countries in the Americas can appreciate. He was the long serving leader of Cuba, seemed to be generally genuinely admired by his people and contrary to the delusions of the Cuba exiles in Miami unlike many of the Central and South American dictators the US supported, there was never no mass movement to over throw him.

Hello Lady. Why are you bring this up now? Is this news? If you check, this was a statement made by Trudeau in March 2011, more than 5 years ago and it is taken out of context. Since then, he was duly elected by a majority of voters to be our Prime Minister.

Here is the context

Trudeau blasted the Conservatives for using the term "barbaric," even though it's been in the guide since 2009. Forced marriages are the only new item on the list.

"There's nothing that the word 'barbaric' achieves that the words 'absolutely unacceptable' would not have achieved," Trudeau, the Liberal immigration critic, said.

"We accept that these acts are absolutely unacceptable. That's not the debate. In casual conversation, I'd even use the word barbaric to describe female circumcision, for example, but in an official Government of Canada publication, there needs to be a little bit of an attempt at responsible neutrality."

If you study the etymology of the term Barbarian and the definition, it would not be the correct word to use and may be culturally insensitive or even a racist slur rather than the suggested wording changes. Please understand the context and bring up relevant issues to a post that is related to the subject, that is; Castro's Cuba.

Last edited by Edmonton PRT; 27-11-2016 at 10:00 PM.

Advocating a better Edmonton through effective, efficient and economical transit.

Rofl!! Oh my god! LOL...he's a Muppet with a big mouth. He's back peddling like crazy over his remarks re uncle F, too late. This is what happens when its not written down for him, or Butts isn't around.thanks for the giggles PRT

It is quite on the contrary. It shows that he is articulate and understands that words matter.

he may well be articulate - although seemingly still less comfortable (or less happy?) in english than in french - and he may well understand that words matter.

that doesn't mean his words or the thoughts behind them - or perhaps more accurately the thoughts not behind them - are well chosen or correct or appropriate regardless of the articulation or the words used.

words do matter and that's why it's even more important to use them wisely and sometimes sparingly. one day justin will hopefully learn why we are given two ears but only one mouth.

I get the sentiment of this phrase, but I'm pretty sure it was an evolutionary trait that determined we only needed one cakehole. It wasn't some divine message that we should listen more and talk less. It's not like those we're being told to listen to have a better mouth-to-ear ratio, giving them some godly right to say more than others.

You may have meant to simply say he should choose his words more carefully.

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction" - Blaise Pascal

From Cool to Laughing Stock

Pretty silly by Trudeau. I realize Castro's regime was in many ways better than the one before it, but it is still a brutal dictatorship that cast aside human rights. How would people like it if they were forced to support the conservative party, or liberal party? That's what Castro did:

This kind of Disco Generation stupidity about Castro has been commonplace in establishment circles in Canada since Pierre’s time, and neither Alexandre’s gringo-splaining nor Justin’s aptitude for eulogy are sufficient to gloss over the many things Cubans have every right to complain about.

Any political activity outside the Communist Party of Cuba is a criminal offence. Political dissent of any kind is a criminal offence. Dissidents are spied on, harassed and roughed up by the Castros’ neighbourhood vigilante committees. Freedom of movement is non-existent. Last year, the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN) documented 8,616 cases of politically motivated arbitrary arrest. For all our Prime Minister’s accolades about Cuba’s health care system, basic medicines are scarce to non-existent. For all the claims about high literacy rates, Cubans are allowed to read only what the Castro crime family allows.

Raul Castro’s son Alejandro is the regime’s intelligence chief. His son-in-law, Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Callejas, runs the Cuban military’s business operations, which now account for 60 per cent of the Cuban economy. The Castro regime owns and control the Cuban news media, which is adept at keeping Cubans in the dark. It wasn’t until 1999, for instance, that Cubans were permitted to know the details of Fidel’s family life: five sons they’d never heard of, all in their thirties.

Independent publications are classified as “enemy propaganda.” Citizen journalists are harassed and persecuted as American spies. Reporters Without Borders ranks Cuba at 171 out of 180 countries in press freedom, worse than Iran, worse than Saudi Arabia, worse than Zimbabwe.

So fine, let’s overlook the 5,600 Cubans Fidel Castro executed by firing squad, the 1,200 known to have been liquidated in extrajudicial murders, the tens of thousands dispatched to forced labour camps, or the fifth of the Cuban population that was either driven into the sea or fled the country in terror.

...

In his twilight years, Castro was enjoying himself at his gaudy 30-hectare Punto Cero estate in Havana’s suburban Jaimanitas district, or occasionally retreating to his private yacht, or to his beachside house in Cayo Piedra, or to his house at La Caleta del Rosario with its private marina, or to his duck-hunting chalet at La Deseada.

Fidel Castro was not merely the “controversial figure” of Justin Trudeau’s encomium. He was first and foremost a traitor to the Cuban revolution. On that count alone, Castro’s death should not be mourned. It should be celebrated, loudly and happily.

^or Pol pot for reducing the influence of the "elites" (i.e. anyone who wore glasses). I find it interesting that a lot of the same people who go on about Castro being a revolutionary hero, are the same people who get all upset when a new terror law or similar comes in place, involving some tracking or policing. Castro created a police state, no different from East Germany, where everyone spies on everyone, and people get rounded up and tortured or killed if perceived to be a threat.

Praising Castro for a few good things he did is like praising Mussolini for getting the trains to run on time.

I'm not sure train service in Italy was Really that great then, but there are flaws with that comparison. The biggest one being we were never at war with Cuba. Many Canadians fought and died in Italy in the war against Mussolini.

If praising rulers with atrocious human rights records is so bad, we should also condemn Prime Minister Harper's praise for the Saudi ruler who passed away a while ago. Strangely, I don't remember the critics who are so vocal now saying anything about that.

Praising Castro for a few good things he did is like praising Mussolini for getting the trains to run on time.

He should be praised for the good things he did and criticized for the bad things. It's pretty simple but of course good and bad is always highly debatable and differes for every person on earth. Means and goals just add a whole new layer to the debate.

Why though, would anyone try to categorize any leader in highly simplistic terms, especially one that did all kinds of debatable things over many decades?

^or Pol pot for reducing the influence of the "elites" (i.e. anyone who wore glasses). I find it interesting that a lot of the same people who go on about Castro being a revolutionary hero, are the same people who get all upset when a new terror law or similar comes in place, involving some tracking or policing. Castro created a police state, no different from East Germany, where everyone spies on everyone, and people get rounded up and tortured or killed if perceived to be a threat.

I don't think he so much as created a police state as replaced one. ...but I'm not sure.

^or Pol pot for reducing the influence of the "elites" (i.e. anyone who wore glasses). I find it interesting that a lot of the same people who go on about Castro being a revolutionary hero, are the same people who get all upset when a new terror law or similar comes in place, involving some tracking or policing. Castro created a police state, no different from East Germany, where everyone spies on everyone, and people get rounded up and tortured or killed if perceived to be a threat.

I don't think he so much as created a police state as replaced one. ...but I'm not sure.

Question: did Bastista have to go?

Well he was overthrown in a revolution, so I guess the people were quite fed up with him - ie. probably yes.

Yes, I think his human right record was no worse (perhaps better) than the regime he replaced. He improved living conditions, especially with access to free medical care and education, which was an important achievement.

I hope with the passing of the Castro's, Cuba will improve its human rights record eventually too, but as his brother is still running things so it will be a while before a new generation with different ideas takes over and who knows how good they may be.

Praising Castro for a few good things he did is like praising Mussolini for getting the trains to run on time.

I'm not sure train service in Italy was Really that great then, but there are flaws with that comparison. The biggest one being we were never at war with Cuba. Many Canadians fought and died in Italy in the war against Mussolini.

If praising rulers with atrocious human rights records is so bad, we should also condemn Prime Minister Harper's praise for the Saudi ruler who passed away a while ago. Strangely, I don't remember the critics who are so vocal now saying anything about that.

The Double Standard does not apply to Conservative Party Members

Advocating a better Edmonton through effective, efficient and economical transit.

^Could be, but does Trudeau have ANY standards?. Seems not. Trudeau apologists bleating that Castro should be praised for his good and his wrist slapped for his bad. How does that work. Does one school being opened equal 20 people being tortured?. Does a bottle of pain killers equal three people being shot.
Cripes, it seems there are a few posting that could beat #Trudeaueulogies hands down. If Captain Selfies gets invited or goes to the funeral then he will be truly painting himself into a corner. If he's thinking on his feet maybe he should mumble he is too overcome to make a statement then get out of Dodge real fast.

^Could be, but does Trudeau have ANY standards?. Seems not. Trudeau apologists bleating that Castro should be praised for his good and his wrist slapped for his bad. How does that work. Does one school being opened equal 20 people being tortured?. Does a bottle of pain killers equal three people being shot.
Cripes, it seems there are a few posting that could beat #Trudeaueulogies hands down. If Captain Selfies gets invited or goes to the funeral then he will be truly painting himself into a corner. If he's thinking on his feet maybe he should mumble he is too overcome to make a statement then get out of Dodge real fast.

Well if human rights abuse is the greater sin, then we should also be loudly condemning the US for the torture that occurred at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, some of which actually happened to Canadian citizens. Were those that are so outraged now, outraged about that?

^Could be, but does Trudeau have ANY standards?. Seems not. Trudeau apologists bleating that Castro should be praised for his good and his wrist slapped for his bad. How does that work. Does one school being opened equal 20 people being tortured?. Does a bottle of pain killers equal three people being shot.
Cripes, it seems there are a few posting that could beat #Trudeaueulogies hands down. If Captain Selfies gets invited or goes to the funeral then he will be truly painting himself into a corner. If he's thinking on his feet maybe he should mumble he is too overcome to make a statement then get out of Dodge real fast.

Well if human rights abuse is the greater sin, then we should also be loudly condemning the US for the torture that occurred at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, some of which actually happened to Canadian citizens. Were those that are so outraged now, outraged about that?

It was condemned and will forever be a scar on Bush JR. I don't expect much positive when he dies. But as bad as he was, Castro was torturing, killing and abusing people in his own country who had different political views for decades while living like a king and the abuse still goes on. You might think it's fine for Trudeau to praise a murderor who lied to and betrayed his people because there are other bad people in the world, I don't. What Castro did in creating his family empire island weren't controversies they were obsenitiies. JFK got that, it's embarrassing that Trudeau doesn't.

^Could be, but does Trudeau have ANY standards?. Seems not. Trudeau apologists bleating that Castro should be praised for his good and his wrist slapped for his bad. How does that work. Does one school being opened equal 20 people being tortured?. Does a bottle of pain killers equal three people being shot.
Cripes, it seems there are a few posting that could beat #Trudeaueulogies hands down. If Captain Selfies gets invited or goes to the funeral then he will be truly painting himself into a corner. If he's thinking on his feet maybe he should mumble he is too overcome to make a statement then get out of Dodge real fast.

Defining anyone by their worst actions and/or the consequences of their actions would put a lot of people throughout history into the side of evil. Imagine how that standard would work if applied to Churchill, Lincoln, many of the US's founding fathers, a good portion of soldiers in any war wherever collateral damage occurred, etc.

^Could be, but does Trudeau have ANY standards?. Seems not. Trudeau apologists bleating that Castro should be praised for his good and his wrist slapped for his bad. How does that work. Does one school being opened equal 20 people being tortured?. Does a bottle of pain killers equal three people being shot.
Cripes, it seems there are a few posting that could beat #Trudeaueulogies hands down. If Captain Selfies gets invited or goes to the funeral then he will be truly painting himself into a corner. If he's thinking on his feet maybe he should mumble he is too overcome to make a statement then get out of Dodge real fast.

Well if human rights abuse is the greater sin, then we should also be loudly condemning the US for the torture that occurred at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, some of which actually happened to Canadian citizens. Were those that are so outraged now, outraged about that?

It was condemned and will forever be a scar on Bush JR. I don't expect much positive when he dies. But as bad as he was, Castro was torturing, killing and abusing people in his own country who had different political views for decades while living like a king and the abuse still goes on. You might think it's fine for Trudeau to praise a murderor who lied to and betrayed his people because there are other bad people in the world, I don't. What Castro did in creating his family empire island weren't controversies they were obsenitiies. JFK got that, it's embarrassing that Trudeau doesn't.

It's a tough call because we only have to look back at a very long list of Canadian and US politicians and their treatment of native Americans and the associated deaths to categorize their governments as murderous by commission or omission. I know people that fully believe that under British rule, native genocide was committed. Similarly all Popes, maybe all religious leaders, going back for ages would also deserve the worst labels.

Fidel Castro: Cuban leader condemned as 'dictator' who presided over executions and human rights abuses
'This is a man who set up a dictatorship that had no tolerance for anyone who thought differently'

Who didn't praise Mother Teresa? And there's Christopher Columbus - where there was shortage of evil doings in his history.

On September 4 of this year, Mother Teresa will become Saint Teresa. This is unsurprising; she was beatified in 2003, which is sort of a one-way road to canonization. But it’s the last thing we need. She was no saint.

To canonize Mother Teresa would be to seal the lid on her problematic legacy, which includes forced conversion, questionable relations with dictators, gross mismanagement, and actually, pretty bad medical care. Worst of all, she was the quintessential white person expending her charity on the third world — the entire reason for her public image, and the source of immeasurable scarring to the postcolonial psyche of India and its diaspora.

A 2013 study from the University of Ottawa dispelled the “myth of altruism and generosity” surrounding Mother Teresa, concluding that her hallowed image did not stand up to the facts, and was basically the result of a forceful media campaign from an ailing Catholic Church.

Although she had 517 missions in 100 countries at the time of her death, the study found that hardly anyone who came seeking medical care found it there. Doctors observed unhygienic, “even unfit,” conditions, inadequate food, and no painkillers — not for lack of funding, in which Mother Theresa’s world-famous order was swimming, but what the study authors call her “particular conception of suffering and death.”

For the second time in two weekends, President-elect Donald Trump stirred controversy, bigly, using only his thumbs.

With a trio of tweets Sunday alleging millions of fraudulent votes and "serious" fraud in three states, Trump effectively hijacked the news cycle for the next 24 hours with baseless conspiracy theories. A week prior, it was Trump's tweets demanding an apology from the cast of "Hamilton" for disrespecting Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who was in the audience the previous night.

It can all feel pretty small and sideshow-y at times. Some have a prescription: The media should resist the urge to cover Trump's tweets as big news. Others even say we should ignore them altogether.

But both of those are fantasies. And we'd be doing readers a disservice if we tried either.

Undergirding the idea that Trump's tweets shouldn't be big news is the theory that he's manipulating the media into focusing on small things to cover up less sexy but more important things — conflicts of interests and possible corruption, in particular.

I'm skeptical any such plan exists, given that Trump's thin-skinned tweeting is pretty indiscriminate. But this idea has returned with a vengeance given the latest tweetstorm, and it's likely to perk up again after Trump on Tuesday morning suggested revoking the citizenship or jailing of people who burn the American flag.

Here's how Politico's Jack Shafer, whose piece last weekend titled "Stop Being Trump's Twitter Fool" has become a rallying point for the ignore-Trump's-tweets crowd, reacted to the voter fraud tweets:

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As long as the media keeps falling for Trump's shytposts on Twitter, he's going to keep doing it. The story originally was about some recounts, but Trump's tweets forced them to talk about the issue of voter fraud.

Trump tweeted this morning: "Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag – if they do, there must be consequences – perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!"

So what on earth do the Trudeaus see in authoritarian figures and regimes? Maybe it is all summed up in Justin’s 2013 tribute to the role of big government in forcing people into living more environmentally. “There is a level of admiration I actually have for China because their basic dictatorship is allowing them to actually turn their economy around on a dime and say we need to go green, we need to start, you know, investing in solar. There is a flexibility that I know Stephen Harper must dream about: having a dictatorship where you can do whatever you wanted, that I find quite interesting.”

It’s a world view that is, if nothing else, consistent with Trudeau’s brief statement on the death of Fidel Castro.

The same people afraid that Donald Trump is going to round up people and imprison them in camps are the ones praising Fidel Castro (who actually did that).

Very interesting interview on CBC Radio this morning about how ruthless Castro was towards Cuba's gay population, locking up thousands post revolution and letting them die in prison, then with aids, locking Cuba's gays in quarantine ("pretty prisons"), and how with boat exodus late in Jimmy Carter's presidency the exodus was composed of mostly prisoners and gays in order to embarrass Carter via a refugee crisis.

Then further on the CBC interview it was mentioned how Cuba gets excused for the very things Canada has, as Canada also has universal healthcare and social supports but also has a democracy, freedom of the press, etc.

In sum, the CBC seems pretty good at embarrassing Trudeau on this issue.

^maybe that's why that homophobe Trudeau loves him and why people like PRT think Castro was a great man? I remember talking to someone from Florida who told me the sad story of some gay Cuban friends who got out of cuba, to be finally free to enjoy their lives, only to die from HIV/AIDS.

Don't even get us started on Cuba's policy regarding homosexuals. In the years following his takeover, the police began rounding up gay men and placing them in work camps called Military Units to Aid Production (UMAP) according to The Daily Beast.

Although these camps closed in the late 60s, homosexuals were still persecuted by the regime afterwards and were fired from their jobs and weren't allowed to join the Communist Party, according to the same source.

During the 80s when the first cases of HIV were discovered on the island, the government responded by establishing sanitariums, which were quarantine centers that kept patients away from the rest of society, according to the New York Times.

These sanitariums were referred to as "pretty prisons," by Jonathan Mann, the first AIDS director at the World Health Organization, and were seen as a direct threat against the LGBT minority within the country.

Let's not overlook the number of Cubans living in America either. According to CBS News, there are around 1.1 million Cuban Americans in the U.S., meaning one tenth of the Cuban population has fled the island nation to seek refuge in America.

Article 215 of the Cuban Penal Code strictly prohibits Cubans to leave the country without authorized government permission. This means if they are caught trying to escape, they're subjected to a lengthy prison sentence.

I guess Trudeau will not be attending Castro's funeral. The official spin is that his schedule does not allow it. The real reason is they have muzzled him and thrown him in the closet for the rest of the year. His schedule does not allow it?. Sure. They are sending Gov. General David Johnston instead.

I guess Trudeau will not be attending Castro's funeral. The official spin is that his schedule does not allow it. The real reason is they have muzzled him and thrown him in the closet for the rest of the year. His schedule does not allow it?. Sure. They are sending Gov. General David Johnston instead.

Given that he was in Cuba and met with leaders there quite recently it makes perfect sense that he decided not to attend. One of the benefits to having the Governor General as head of state is he can handle many such ceremonial duties.

moahunter, where did I say that Castro was a great man? Please do not lie about my posts.

I seriously doubt that Trudeau is a homophobe. Just where do you get you spurious accusations?

Harper went after the Chinese until the business community slapped his wrists for doing all kinds of damage to their wallets. Trudeau may just be more politically savvy in terms of dealing with international relations.

Maybe I was wrong, I don't see my self as left, right or centrist, but I think everyone commits the same error in support of their positions.

s much of the American left is openly mooting whether or not the American president-elect is a dictator in waiting, one has to wonder whether they would take that bargain: No more elections, no more free speech, no more civil liberties of any kind, but socialized medicine and literacy for everyone! American political dissidents, homosexuals, journalists and the clergy, just like in Cuba, can languish in prison or internal exile, but at least they’ll be able to read the charges against them.

Such un-nuanced arguments always make leftist eyes roll. As University of Rhode Island professor Eric Loomis put it, “Castro: It’s Complicated!” cautioning against thinking “in terms of simplistic moral judgments.” It seems to me that when people want to ban simplistic moral judgments, it’s usually because simple morality is not on their side.